Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Covestor Ltd

Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 45.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,233 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.6% of Covestor Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Covestor Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 30,997 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,903,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 25,663 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,887,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $121,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 1,434,764 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $273,256,000 after buying an additional 7,296 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.71.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $160.29. 9,665,122 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,383,706. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $170.50 and a 200 day moving average of $177.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. The trade was a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,297 shares of company stock valued at $20,804,770 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.